Union College’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) has recently undergone a reconfiguration beginning in Fall 2025, which includes the creation of a stand-alone Spanish and Hispanic Studies Department. This reconfiguration process dates back to an external review done in Spring 2023, where reviewers from foreign language departments at other institutions examined Union’s MLL to make suggestions based on the department’s strengths and weaknesses. The reviewers’ final report was released in August 2023, with a chief concern regarding the department as “containing a group of language sections with strikingly dissimilar circumstances and concerns.”
During the 2023-2024 Academic Year, MLL Department Chair Professor Michele Ricci Bell created opportunities for discussion among MLL staff on the possible reconfiguration and future of the department. During this discussion period in April 2024, individuals in the Spanish section of the department indicated their interest in possibly creating a Spanish department separate from MLL as a means for reconfiguration, with one of the reasons being Spanish’s popularity at Union as an academic program, as the fifth most popular minor. Other languages also explored the possibility of reconfiguration through this lens; however, the remaining five sections of MLL, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Russian, agreed to stay together as a department, since they are, according to Professor Bell, “aligned in terms of circumstances, concerns, and vision.”
On April 28, 2025, the creation of the new Spanish and Hispanic Studies Department at Union was announced to Union Faculty through an email from the Dean of Academic Departments and Programs. According to the email, “This change has been under discussion for more than a year, beginning with reflection and conversations with MLL and the Spanish section that evolved out of the MLL department’s recent external review. The change aligns Union with the majority of its peer schools and better equips Spanish to continue serving the growing population of Latine students.”
Apart from the creation of the Spanish Department, a name change from Modern Languages and Literatures was also recommended by the review; however, a survey of students and alumni, who were given a variety of options, ultimately concluded that Modern Languages and Literatures was the most suitable name, and therefore, no name change should occur.
In addition to the reconfiguration, MLL has recently undergone some noteworthy developments, including a grant for the 2025-26 Academic Year from the Modern Language Association to Professors Kristin Bidoshi, Megan Ferry, and Michele Ricci Bell. The grant is titled “Language in the Present Tense: Modeling, Mentoring and Mapping Language Proficiency for Career Readiness” and will not only aid students in the classroom but also in a professional setting as it pertains to language. Also excitingly, the Japanese, Chinese, French, and German sections of MLL have received recent donations to their programs, confirming how important foreign language education is at Union College.
